In a funny, moving and distinctly mind-bending journey through suburban America, one extraordinary but disenchanted teenage is about to take Time's Arrow for a ride. October 2nd, 1988: just another ordinary day in Donnie Darko's… MoreIn a funny, moving and distinctly mind-bending journey through suburban America, one extraordinary but disenchanted teenage is about to take Time's Arrow for a ride. October 2nd, 1988: just another ordinary day in Donnie Darko's teen-aged existence. He's taken his medication, watched Dukakis & Bush debate, and had dinner with the family. Then an outrageous accident occurs, which just misses claiming Donnie's life. As Donnie begins to explore what it means to still be alive, and in short order to be in love, he uncovers secrets of the universe that five him a tempting power to alter time and destiny. From 26 year-old first time writer-director Richard Kelly comes the provocative DONNIE DARKO, a genre busting fable that blasts the American suburban drama into a wildly imaginative realm of time travel, alternative universes and the manipulation of one's fate. But at the core of DONNIE DARKO is the simple story of a boy trying to make a stand in a lonely, chaotic world - and discovering that every little thing he does counts on a cosmic scale. Originally screened at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, DONNIE DARKO became one of the festival's most talked-about and debated films, praised for blending sci-fi fantasy with an original vision of a modern suburbia teetering on the edge of dread and disaster. The question became: what is DONNIE DARKO? Is it a look back at the underbelly of the Ferris Bueller and Back to the Future era? Or is it a wild journey into multiple realities and multiple outcomes? Is it the story of an increasingly cynical, hypocritical society on a crash-course with apocalypse? Or is it a fairy-tale about a teen hero who changes the world around him? Is this the cosmic death knell of the Regan Era, or a portrait of a troubled community redeemed by the hand of God? The surprising answer is that DONNIE DARKO is all of these - a deep inquiry into the recent past and the possibilities for the future all wrapped up in the story of a teenager unlike any you've met before. Writer/director Richard Kelly purposefully wanted DONNIE DARKO to be vast enough to mean different things to different people. But he offers this guidance for the mind-blowing ride ahead: "Maybe it's the story of Holden Caulfield, resurrected in 1988 by the spirit of Philip K. Dick, who was always spinning yarns about schizophrenia and drug abuse breaking the barriers of space and time. Or it's a black comedy foreshadowing the impact of the 1988 presidential election, which is really the best way to explain it. But first and foremost, I wanted the film to be a piece of social satire that needs to be experienced and digested several times." DONNIE DARKO - THE DIRECTOR'S CUT features 20 minutes of never-before-seen footage; new & enhanced visual effects and new music. -- (C) Newmarket Films

...other additions -- most egregiously at the climax -- are just intrusive and reduce our interpretive choices by replacing them with one choice, purely science-fictional in a George Lucas 'midichlorians' sense, that's a diminishment, not an illumination.

[b]Obscurity is the refuge of the incompetent.[/b] - [color=DarkOliveGreen]Robert Heinlein[/color]
[b]My mind to me a kingdom is,
Such… More[b]Obscurity is the refuge of the incompetent.[/b] - [color=DarkOliveGreen]Robert Heinlein[/color]
[b]My mind to me a kingdom is,
Such present joys therein I find,
That it excels all other bliss
That earth affords or grows by kind:
Though much I want though most would have,
Yet still my mind forbids to crave.[/b]
- [color=RoyalBlue]Sir Edward Dwyer[/color]
[b]I find a little giggle-gas before I begin gives me immense pleasure.[/b] -[color=SandyBrown] Orin Scrivello[/color]
[b]Many times I've lied, many times I've listened
Many times I've wondered how much there is to know.[/b] - [color=Gray]Robert Plant[/color]
[b]I told myself I'd make an entry about my Halloween costume, but that sort of never materialized. Perhaps I'll resurrect that endeavor, seeing as how my journal is collecting stale fingerprints from users shuffling past it to all the other updates in this asylum. Maybe later tonight I'll update? Yeah, no. Also, this is the best quote you've ever read.[/b] [b]I'll quote myself to prove it. Yeah. No. [/b]- [color=Green]Neum Daddy/Neumthor/NeumDagger/Neumorado Sexington/Somebody Else[/color][b]
Perhaps, if I am lucky, the feeble efforts of my lifetime will someday be noticed, and maybe, in some small way, they will be acknowledged as the greatest works of genius ever created by Man.[/b] - Jack Handey[color=Red]
[/color][b]
Intelligence recognizes what has happened. Genius recognizes what will happen.[/b] - [color=Red]John Ciardi[/color]
[b]You know, if I were to die right now, in some sort of fiery explosion due to the carelessness of a friend...well, that would just be ok.[/b] - [color=YellowGreen]Spongebob Squarepants
[/color] [b]The problem with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.[/b] - [color=Red]Bertrand Russell[/color]
[b]I've finally found someone I can love - a good, clean love...without utensils.[/b] - [color=DeepSkyBlue]Frank Drebin[/color]
[b]The vision and the faculty divine;
Yet wanting the accomplishment of verse.[/b] - [color=Sienna]William Wordsworth[/color]
[b]It's always darkest just before it goes pitch black. [/b]- [color=DarkSlateGray]...uh, modern proverb?[/color]
[b]Winning is not everything, but wanting to win is.[/b] - Vince Lombardi
[b]Art is dangerous. It is one of the attractions. When it ceases to be dangerous, you don't want it.[/b] -[color=Navy] Duke Ellington[/color]
[b]We ask for strength and you give us difficulties which make us strong;
We ask for wisdom and you send us problems, the solutions of which develop wisdom;
We plead for prosperity and you give us a brain and brawn to work;
We plead for courage and you give us dangers to overcome.
We ask favors and you give us opportunities;
Therefore, Great Spirit, we ask you bless us and assist us according to thy will.[/b] - [color=DarkOrange]Unknown[/color]

Richard C

I love the directors cut even more then the theatrical version. this movie is funny, wierd, orginal and much more. this is one of the best films ever made. A

Bryce Iwaschuk

It might be longer, and may only have more scenes than the original, but oddly enough, it comes nowhere close to being as good as the theatrical cut.

Dann Michalski

Richard Kelly revisits his cult thriller Donnie Darko with a Director's Cut that tries to offer a clearer vision. Inserting excerpts from "The… MoreRichard Kelly revisits his cult thriller Donnie Darko with a Director's Cut that tries to offer a clearer vision. Inserting excerpts from "The Philosophy of Time Travel," the story gains a more structured format; as sections of the narrative are categorized by the element of tangent universe time travel that are being focused on. There are also hints of an observer that is overseeing this correction of the tangent universe. But these observer scenes feel out of place and clash stylistically with the tone and look of the rest of the film. Another unfortunate change in this cut is the soundtrack, which is less evocative and organic. Also, the addition of more dialog and voice-over scenes for the Frank character causes him to lose some of his mystique. But for the most part, the performances and storytelling are especially strong and compelling. Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut succeeds at clearing up some of the ambiguity and mystery of the theatrical version, yet in doing so part of the film's allure is lost.

Audra Hebard

An extremely ambitious piece of work that rightly gets people to think and debate over it. In interviews, Richard Kelly, himself, seems vague and indefinite in… MoreAn extremely ambitious piece of work that rightly gets people to think and debate over it. In interviews, Richard Kelly, himself, seems vague and indefinite in his interpretation of the chain of events and what they could represent. But I think he just wants to stimulate an opinion in his viewers rather than influence his personal ideas on them.
I, for one, thoroughly enjoyed the performances, and the way the film made me contemplate the ideas of fate, time travel, finding meaning in one's life. As far as Donnie Darko's character, it definitely had a "Catcher in the Rye" meets "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" feel, which I loved.
*SPOILER*
My belief is that Donnie was meant to die. He escaped his would-be death by chance of the recurring hallucination of Frank, a giant demonic-looking rabbit. He was given a grace period of 28 days to see how he can either change or better the world around him. His attempts were both unsuccessful (his flooding the school leading to the termination of his favorite teacher, Mrs. Pomeroy) and successful (his burning of Mr. Cunningham's house leading to the exploitation of his pedophilia ring). Among all this corruption, he finds the one thing that balances him and gives him a reason to love something. That's Gretchen Ross (played by the really awesome Jena Malone).
His obsession with Frank and following his orders (as payment for 'saving his life'), however, consumes him to the point of putting his new-found love in danger. Gretchen is run-down by a car operated by real-life Frank (dressed in the same rabbit suit for a Halloween party), and consequently killed. My thoughts are that this real-life Frank was actually the trigger object (as mentioned in the time-travel book by Roberta Sparrow/'Gma Death') that traveled back in time to meet Donnie before the jet engine turbine crashed in his room.
Having realized these past 28 days only demeaned his world even more, Donnie, I think, realizes that he should have been the one to die from a freak accident instead of Gretchen. Meanwhile, miles above him, his mother and sister are flying back home on a plane when it, believe it or not, loses its engine turbine. As it falls, it is implied (again, I THINK...) that the world is turning in reverse, sending Donnie back to his room 28 days earlier to be present when that engine turbine hit his room. Hence there being no record of a plane losing its engine turbine on that specific day (Rose and Samantha Darko being safely in their own beds, of course).
A lot of this interpretation is filling-in-the-blanks the movie (the Director's Cut) didn't exactly cover. Critics might say that that is a lot of missing explanation. But, for me, it's fun to create my own story so I can relate to it. I think that was Kelly's intention, after all. To each his own interpretation!